Color is for televison and Race is something runners do.

It's been said that America doesn't make anything anymore. That we are a nation of consumers. Some say as high as 80% of jobs are service based. Well, there's one thing that we are still producing and producing well. Racism (and the dirty little secret is, we'll never stop). We are not born racist. In fact, we are taught racism, sadly, at an early age. Depending on where you live in this country, it's easy to learn and hard to overcome, if at all. So what can we do? It will never truly go away and reducing it seems even harder because we can't discuss it. As soon as you bring it up, or make a statement that is unpopular, you are labeled a racist. Until we can have open, dyadic, and even painful communication on this issue, it will continue to fester and rear it's ugly head from time to time. 

As a child, two of my early friends were named Raymond and Eric. We did everything together. At times it seemed like we were inseparable. It wasn't until I was exposed to other friends and family that I learned that they were somehow different. One was black and the other was Hispanic. The questions weren't always with ill intent, but could be as simple as referring to them as your black friend or your Mexican friend (even though he was born in America). It wasn't just my two friends that became the subject of color, it was my music choices or the sports teams I watched. I would hear things like, he's a pretty good basketball player for being colored or that Michael Jackson is talented for a black man. As a child, sometimes that went over my head, other times it didn't and as I got older I was exposed to the fact that racism was a part of who we are as a nation and that it was never going away...

The eyes of the Nation are upon Ferguson Missouri this week. The facts of the case are still not clear. All we know is a white cop shot a black man. Without any other further information, that alone is a dangerous spark, that could light an even bigger fire. Throw in the demographics of the area, the make up of the police force, and before the ambulance could arrive on scene, you knew there was going to be trouble. We are now entering our second week of this sad scene playing out and instead of learning from it, we are creating more racists & mistrust on both sides of the issue, mainly because there has been a lack of communication and leadership. Sadly, these types events aren't new and are typically handled poorly, like in Ferguson. Once the spark is lit, everybody raises their fear levels, abandons logic and thinking, and the "leaders" tend to lead from behind, instead of taking charge. With each passing hour the facts of the case become less and less important because new issues are spawning off left and right. By the time the situation is resolved, the key players are often forgotten, resolution is foggy at best, and growth from the situation is limited or non existent. All we have done is lower the bar for the next event.

What if we could remove that level of fear and hate? What if we could have factual reporting, instead of the commentary we have now, disguised as news?  Leaders that weren't afraid to fail, because they were more concerned with leading? If the people involved were honest from the outset and the facts were made public so that the people of the area could feel a since of resolution? What if there was no color involved in the principle players?  It sounds crazy, but it's not impossible.

Our melting pot of a nation will help with this over the next couple of decades as the white race becomes the minority in the country (I suspect we'll see a spike in racism before that happens) around 2043. With color being less of an issue, education will be the next deciding factor in the effort to minimise racism. The more we can weed this logic out of the minds of our citizenship, the sooner we can act as human beings toward one another. For this to be successful, we will need to communicate clearly, loudly, and even alone when others will not join in. It may be painful, scary, and fall upon deaf ears, but the message has to be held strong and weakness in it's delivery can not be an option. Next, we need to take the news reporting away from the entertainment industry. News needs to be factual, truthful, and brutally honest. Too many channels, on both sides, blend their news with opinion, and for the less educated and lazy, this is a deadly combination. When a situation does arise, whomever is in charge needs to stand tall and lead. This is what you are paid to do and if you don't feel like you are up to it, turn it over to someone who can ASAP. A strong leader can help calm the public, preserve the integrity of the issue at hand, and overcome all obstacles in front of them. Even if the situation is clear at first or unbearable to process amongst the public, it's the person in charge that has the ability and obligation to take us through until the situation is resolved.

As individuals it's time for us to stop being scared and start being honest. Ask questions, interact with people we don't know or are taught to be afraid of. Ask questions, even if they seem stupid or wrong because this will present an opportunity for education. Never end ones personal education through ones life because we don't have all the answers. Ask for forgiveness when wrong and listen to/thank those who take the time to point it out to us. Seek out knowledge on your own, don't wait for it to be packaged and delivered to you via one news source. Be prepared to walk away from those who are truly ignorant and refuse to evolve. Racism will never die, but we have the opportunity to reduce it to a small percentage of the population that will not be able to affect the greater good of humanity.  We owe that to ourselves, our children, our planet, and to all of those who came before us that were not afraid to be heard or even die so that a more perfect union could be formed.